We presented principles of detection and classification of vehicles from aerial video data using Deep Neural Networks. As you can imagine, Deep Neural Networks are integral part of DataFromSky platform and are used in many subtasks of DataFromSky solution. If you want to know more about the magic behind, you can download the presentation (PDF, 2 MB) and/or contact us.

If you follow our work for a longer time, you have probably noticed that so far we did not provide any exact numbers on accuracy and errors of the measurements. However, a method providing quantitative data without any quantification of its precision is somewhat dubious. Thus it should come as no surprise that we were working on these matters zealously behind the scene.

So, what do we have now? We have created a model of the whole process which generates our data, and we are currently working on a set of measurements to validate it.

Model

We have created a mathematical model of the whole process which generates our data. This includes the physical reality at target, complete optical system, and digital processing. The following error sources were considered:

landmark location errors (in meters)

landmark pixel uncertainty (in pixels)

camera intrinsic parameters (in pixels)

target pixel uncertainty (in pixels)

air turbulence (in pixels – included in target/landmark pixel uncertainty)

Using this model, we were able to relate together many variables of the setup – achieved accuracy, distance, covered area, incidence angle, slant range… The results were encouraging. The following picture shows area covered when using a 4k camera, depending on incidence angle and slant range, assuming maximal error of 0.5 meters:

What can one read from the chart? As you can see, the incidence angle of about 40° is a reasonable cutoff value. Slant range of 140 meters at 0° (i.e.: directly overhead) gives the best value. For a HD camera, the area covered is a quarter of that for 4k, and optimal altitude in zenith is halved – 70 meters.

We can also overlay the model’s predicted accuracy onto real pictures – that is, display achieved accuracy along with the footage. We hope to eventually incorporate that functionality into DataFromSky Viewer, so that you could check yourself. For now, we have this picture from the Randers video (in HD). Numbers are error in meters, with respective isolines displayed. A 4k video would yield half the error.

Validation measurements

In order to validate the model, we made a set of measurements at a suitable place near Popice, a small Southern Moravian village known by the vineyards in the area.

We placed a regular grid of 64 landmarks in an 8×8 square pattern, so that a side of the square was exactly 100 meters. The landmarks were positioned using a professional GPS in differential mode, achieving placement accuracy of about 5cm.

Then, we set up an UAV to fly around and take a video, in 4k of course. Here is the trajectory projected onto ground, looking at the area from the west.

We simply imported the recorded video into DataFromSky and added the landmarks as tracked objects. You can’t see them in the picture because the red ID label “pin heads” are larger than an A4 at that resolution, but they are there.

Results

We are still working on processing the results. So far, the agreement between model and measurements is very good, and the model output suggests accuracy greater than we hoped for!

We will publish the results in an academic journal paper. Hopefully, the paper will be finished in a few days and we will be able to share more!

Since this text is about accuracy, we can hint that there is more to come: We measured the vehicle position using a vehicle-mounted dGPS as well, so there is be another set of data to work on.

A few days ago we mentioned the boxed version of our software. Design of its envelope is based on our print brochure, which we will give away at events, conferences, fairs, and whenever the opportunity arises. And you can now browse this brochure online to take a look!

It might be better to mention that the brochure is not exactly small, so it might take a while to load after you enter.

If you are a partner, feel free to grab a print-quality PDF version from the partner download zone.

Researchers from Technical University of Brno recently had an interesting idea: Use a number of students to simulate a convoy with human drivers and measure the dynamics of that situation. To do so, they turned to DataFromSky, their trusted research partner.

It is no coincidence that DFS turned out to be a great tool for such situation – our long-term vision is to be the tool for spatial movement analysis. The students’ positions were marked manually; the rest of needed processing was already part of our software.

ACM SPY (Czech ACM Chapter & Slovakia ACM Chapter Student Project of the Year) is an official competition of high-prestige Czech and Slovak universities for the best master’s thesis in IT area.

One of our talented colleagues, Adam Babinec, was just chosen as one of TOP finalists in 2015 with DataFromSky thesis called: Traffic monitoring from aerial video data, and we would like to congratulate him! Keep fingers crossed for us in the announcement of final results.

As Denmark has become first country in the world using real-time traffic data all around the country we got the opportunity to analyse one of many busy crossroads in there. For us it is the second time monitoring traffic in Denmark, this time in Rismarksvej. The intersection is four-way and bicycles friendly and controlled by traffic lights.

Last Tuesday, 3rd of November, a ceremonial announcement of final results of Nastartujte se competition took place in Hotel Ambassador – Wenceslas Square, Prague.

From more than 50 registered projects DataFromSky got a title of the second best start-up project in Czech Republic. Being a part of Nastartujte se competition was a great opportunity for us and we would like to thank to organizers and all people connected.

We are very proud of our team and we appreciate the award very much. It reminds us that everything we have been working on day by day does make sense and is moving forward.

The famous Italian exhibition Smart Mobility World also this year allowed to exhibit some of the best innovations within the traffic and mobility field. Every year more and more smart and technological, and we were there!

Therefore we would like to thank to all our visitors for their interest in the exposition and our video analysis service which helped them to get a deeper understanding, for visiting our conferences (Smart Mobility World 2015 presentation), bilateral meeting, or simply for standing by and giving us some kind words.

Thanks to Smart Mobility 2015 we had the opportunity to hear people’s opinions and see their interest in a project we’ve been developing for two years, with commitment and dedication, in order to provide a service that is currently one of a kind. The important results we’re getting, that can be seen on our videos and confirmed by our partners, are something we’re very proud of.

Sam Ziusudras, from Curtin University’sCivil Engineering department is evaluating the reliability of the traffic data obtained from small Unmanned Airborne Vehicles in generating Origin-Destination matrices for intersections. As a part of this study, Sam and the research team will be flying a drone to capture video from the flow of the traffic through an intersection in Western Australia. The trajectories would then be extracted using DataFromSky Services, and finally compared to the ‘manual count’ of volume studies for any discrepancies.